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Lesotho Lesotho arboretum

Katse Botanical Gardens

Amada44 · Public domain

0% trees around it and 37 species recorded.

33Forestyas Score

ArboretumMountain forest

  • trees within 3 km0%
  • wild within 10 km85%
  • species recorded37
  • Altitude2,136 m

The forest around

0% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Shrubland 0%Grassland 51%Water 36%Bare ground 2%Cropland 2%Built-up 8%Shrubland 0%Grassland 60%Water 19%Bare ground 1%Cropland 18%Built-up 2%Trees 0%Shrubland 1%Grassland 74%Water 7%Cropland 18%Built-up 1%Shrubland 1%Grassland 83%Water 3%Cropland 12%Built-up 0%0%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km0%
  • 1–3 km0%
  • 3–6 km0%
  • 6–10 km0%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Shrubland0%
  • Grassland60%
  • Water19%
  • Bare ground1%
  • Cropland18%
  • Built-up2%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

37 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Geranium incanum
Geranium incanumGeranium incanum3 recordsGhislain118 (AD) http://www.fleurs-des-montagnes.net · CC BY-SA 3.0
Helichrysum aureum
Helichrysum aureumHelichrysum aureum3 recordsJMK · CC BY-SA 3.0
Weeping lovegrass
Weeping lovegrassEragrostis curvula2 recordsForest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0
Gladiolus saundersii
Gladiolus saundersiiGladiolus saundersii2 recordspeganum from Henfield, England · CC BY-SA 2.0
Lotononis galpinii
Lotononis galpiniiLotononis galpinii2 recordspeganum from Henfield, England · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dolichos angustifolius
Dolichos angustifoliusDolichos angustifolius2 recordsSAplants · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dicoma anomala
Dicoma anomalaDicoma anomala2 recordsyakovlev.alexey from Moscow, Russia · CC BY-SA 2.0
Watercress
WatercressNasturtium officinale2 recordsChirocca77 · CC BY 4.0
Convolvulus natalensisConvolvulus natalensis4 records
Argyrolobium rupestreArgyrolobium rupestre3 records
Argyrolobium lotoidesArgyrolobium lotoides3 records
Lotononis laxaLotononis laxa2 records

Open records within 2 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

33out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 0%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 85%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 37Speciesrecorded more than once within 2 km
  • 2,136 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking in September.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan22°9°216 mm
  2. Feb21°8°182 mm
  3. Mar19°6°119 mm
  4. Apr16°3°67 mm
  5. May13°-1°17 mm
  6. Jun10°-4°12 mm
  7. Jul10°-4°12 mm
  8. Aug13°-2°22 mm
  9. Sep18°1°30 mm
  10. Oct20°4°81 mm
  11. Nov21°6°115 mm
  12. Dec22°8°176 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Katse Botanical Gardens.

Botanical gardens in Katse village, Lesotho

Katse Botanical Gardens is an arboretum in Lesotho, 2,136 m above the sea.

Seen from space, 0% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 85% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

37 species have been recorded around it: 25 plants, 0 fungi, 12 birds and 0 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Geranium incanum, Helichrysum aureum and Weeping lovegrass.

The best time to walk is in September.

Katse Dam-001
Amada44 · Public domain

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at MSU airport (Maseru)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Katse Botanical Gardens seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 2viewpoints within 5 kmView point
  • 6car parks within 3 km
  • 3places to stay within 10 kmKatse Lodge Guesthouse, Dam View guesthouse
  • marked trails within 5 km
  • named and notable trees within 6 km
  • picnic sites within 4 km
  • shelters and huts within 6 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • campsites within 10 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Katse Botanical Gardens.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas2 mountains within 25 km
Ntloloetsane15 kmDitsuming22 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

Katse Water - panoramio
Graham Maclachlan · CC BY-SA 3.0
Katse Dam - 2017 (36467442231)
Stuart Bassil from Norwich, England · CC BY 2.0
Katse Bridge - panoramio
Graham Maclachlan · CC BY-SA 3.0

Other forests nearby.

Katse Botanical Gardens

Lesotho

  • 33Forestyas Score
  • 0%Trees
  • 85%Wild
  • 37Species

Karkloof Forest

South Africa · 170 km

  • 57Forestyas Score
  • 36%Trees
  • 91%Wild
  • 251Species

See the guide

Durban Botanic Gardens

South Africa · 251 km

  • 48Forestyas Score
  • 22%Trees
  • 71%Wild
  • 498Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q28406481) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species200 open records within 2 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here